A magnetic resonance imaging study of the cervical cord of patients with CADASIL

The authors obtained MR and magnetization transfer (MT) imaging of the cerv ical cord from 25 patients with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy wi th subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL). They found no co nventional MR abnormalities, but a reduced peak height of the MT ratio (MTR ) histogram. This suggests a reduced amount of "truly" normal cord tissue i n CADASIL. A significant correlation was found between the extent of brain lesions and cord MTR, suggesting wallerian degeneration as the substrate of the cord MTR changes.